Happy Valley GPX Route

Ride Level: Moderate  

Any bike | GPX Route | Traffic-free | Cycle paths & trails | Some hills | 17 miles | 4 to 5 hours  

Ah Happy Valley, it always brings a smile to your face. This ride connects a wide-open chalk valley, home to rare butterflies, festooned with cowslips and Iron Age Barrows, with Pilgrim’s Way. It visits a church with a 12th-century route map to Purgatory and Hell, before climbing the downs in Yew Valley and passing the Alpaca farms of Halliloo.

Description

Starting at Coulsdon South Railway station. It’s a gradual climb over the grassy downlands past Neolithic remains followed by a climb through the woods to Chaldon, with its ancient church and demonic mural.

Following the ridge of the North Downs on Pilgrims’ Way, pass Tower Folly before riding through the beech and yew woods to a look point, where on a fine day it’s possible to make out the thin grey outline of the South Downs in the far distance.

Few more woods, past old mines and quarries and then the easy bit, a delicious steady 2-mile descent on a traffic-free tarmac gem, you’ll feel like a God riding this section! Prepare to face the last climb aside the Halliloo Valley, past the Alpaca Farm, there's a cafe in the Garden Centre Café in Warlingham.

Continue back towards Purley along the ridge and Riddlesdown Common, a massive open space of chalk downland before our last long descent into Purley Station.  

Start/endpoint 

Start point: Coulsdon South Railway Station 

End Point: Purley Railway Station 

Technical details 

Places to visit 

2.5  miles:           12^th Century wall mural depicting the route to Purgatory at Chaldon Church  

4.6 miles:             Tower Farm Folly

6 miles:                Gravelley Hill Viewpoint

11.25 miles:        Alpaca Farm

Places to Eat 

4.5 miles:             The Harrow      

11.5 miles            Knights Garden Centre   

Ride Details 

• Distance:   27km | 17 miles
• Climb:   430m | 1400 ft
• Trail Surface:  Natural, Gravel and Tarmac 
• Percentage off-road:  Approx 75% 
• Duration:  Ride time 3½ to 4 hours.
• Technical Grade: Blue – non-technical, suitable for novices and near novices with reasonable levels of fitness and those looking to progress their riding ability
• WARNING - In winter there can be large puddles on Pilgrims Way approx 5 miles from the start.

Is this ride for me? 

Is my bike OK for this ride? 

Bikes suitable for this ride include off-road bikes, for example, Mountain, gravel and CX bikes as well hybrids and road bikes fitted with all-terrain tyres.